Bharti Airtel borrows $150 mn as short term loan for Africa biz

Bharti Airtel is believed to have availed a $150 million short term loan through its Singapore subsidiary to fund its Africa business .

According to sources, it is a short term loan for meeting various needs of business in Africa including expansion of infrastructure and roll-out of new services.

As of March 31, 2012, the company reported net debt of $12.7 billion and the loan from Bharti International Singapore is in addition to the existing debt.

The company operates in 17 African Countries and offers 3G services in 7 of these countries. The company reported 53.1 million customers across these geographies.

At the end of FY 2012, Bharti's revenue from Africa operations stood $1,071 million.